Thursday, July 28, 2011

Elements of My Drawing

When I begin a new piece of artwork, I never really consider what I am going to put into it.
I don't think about where I will start or where I will finish...
I typically start from the "Hey, that would be a great idea!" point of view.
I tend to jump right in, worrying about running out of things (like room on the page) when it actually happens.
Like this piece of artwork.
It's called "The Dancing Elephant"

I love this silly, happy little elephant.
But when I drew her, she kicked her back foot up so high that it went right off that page!
Of course, since I (usually) never sketch things in pencil first I couldn't go back and re-configure the entire drawing.
Or convince her to drop that back foot a little.
But you really can't do anything with a happy elephant anyway- they're going to kick up their heels no matter what you try to make them do...
Instead of trashing the entire drawing, I decided to just draw her tail going off the page as well.
I figured that, in the grand scheme of things, no one would really notice that she was falling off the page.
Or dancing in to it.

That is - until I told all of you...

My point is this - one of the elements of my art is going with the flow.
Learning to work with what you're got in front of you...what you've already done.
I could have thrown this young girl away and look at all the smiles I would have trashed as well!
Instead, I stuck with it, added a few washes of acrylic paint and a ton of interesting tiny details and
introduced my Dancing Elephant to the world.

Maybe I should have called her "Tiny Dancer"...
.
These little details are things that we will be talking at my "Whimsical Mark Making" class I am teaching at Textile Evolution in Colorado Springs on August 20.
We'll also cover drawing on fabric as well as what tools to use when adding color to your drawings.
I'd love for you to join me!

Your post struck so many chords with me and reminded me of things that I sometimes forget. Thank you, I tend to go with the flow too but need the dialogue (like yours) to massage my brain and remind me of certain things! Love the elephant, so carefree and happy, wish I lived closer (I'm in Australia) so I could attend your course!kind regardsKatrina

About Me

Creating art is like breathing to me. Everywhere I go, everything I do, everything I see becomes fodder for my artwork. It's just the way that I see, the way that I look at life.
In photos of me as a young child, I was always clutching a crumpled paper bag. Those bags were chock full of treasures- feathers, rocks, leaves and all sorts of ephemera.
As an adult, I do the same thing.
I am a collector of things, nature lover and creator of odd little works of art.
I draw. I paint. I love textiles and layers of texture. I'd love for you to follow, join or play along with me as I trip trap through this thing called life.
If I'm not elbow deep in paint or fiber, I'll be knee deep in water, kayaking with my husband.